Question, search, discover. The words beckon to the heart that yearns for a deeper, more secure knowledge of life, of oneself, and most of all, of the very source of life—God. This spirit of adventure breathes through Christ Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in such passages as, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" and "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."Matt. 5:6, 8.
Spiritual exploration not only calls for courage, it develops courage—a deep, abiding, moral courage that responds to a self-sacrificing Christianity as the search takes one beyond familiar signposts. The search for God will involve experiences both precious and hard, as the truth of being contradicts and transforms even our cherished opinions and convictions.
One man's experience can serve as an example. For some time he had been privately cherishing a deep desire to know God better and to lead a productive, Christian life. However, an important decision he made in his work placed him in a compromising position, though not because of evil intent. He had done the best he knew up to that point, yet he was sure that he would pay dearly for his choice. Hardest of all was the fear that this experience would mar or block his quest to know God and to live the kind of life he wanted so much. Almost instinctively, he prayed and despaired. All known avenues for restitution came to a dead end. He firmly believed that the worst was yet to come and hoped that his prayers would steel him to survive the ordeal that awaited.
